I have a life simulator.

"..."

Kitagawa Ryotsu finished his evaluation with great seriousness, and when he turned his head, he saw Shiina Hiyori's somewhat disappointed expression.

"Did Hiyori think I would have caught it with my mouth just now?"

Catching the girl's thoughts in an instant, Kitagawa Ryo tilted his head:

"Is this some kind of plot from a book? But in reality, it's really rude to accept food from someone who feeds you by hand with your mouth."

Kitagawa Ryo stood up, pulled out a chair, and sat down at the dining table. Shiina Hiyori seemed a little dissatisfied with what had just happened and didn't seem to want to eat. She just puffed out her cheeks and looked at Kitagawa Ryo, looking genuinely unhappy.

"Want to play a little game?"

Kitagawa Ryo had some experience dealing with Shiina Hiyori's little temper tantrums. Looking at the various kinds of rice balls on his plate, he suddenly had an idea:

"We'll take turns saying a mystery novel that we've read and that we believe the other person hasn't. If the other person hasn't actually read it, they win a round, and the loser has to eat a rice ball in one bite. How about that?"

The moment mystery novels were mentioned, Hiyori Shiina instantly forgot her earlier slight irritation:

"Liang has been busy with class matters lately, so she shouldn't have had much time to read."

"That's not necessarily the case."

Kitagawa Ryo propped his head up and scrutinized Shiina Hiyori's slender figure, as if assessing her appetite:

"Shouldn't Hiyori be able to eat a maximum of four?"

"Is Liang ready to eat ten of them in one go?"

Faced with Kitagawa Ryo's provocation, Shiina Hiyori retaliated without backing down. Although she usually appears lazy and leisurely, Shiina Hiyori's competitive spirit is surprisingly strong when it comes to topics related to Kitagawa Ryo.

"And Then There Were None"

The tense atmosphere was immediately broken by the book title announced by Kitagawa Ryo. Shiina Hiyori looked at Kitagawa Ryo with a strange expression. Even if they were not mystery novel fans, most people should have heard of this masterpiece by Agatha Christie. Horikita Suzune also seemed to like this book very much.

"Oh, actually I'm just hungry, I'll eat something to tide me over."

Kitagawa Ryo certainly didn't think Shiina Hiyori hadn't read this book. He picked up a rice ball from his plate, chewed it, and looked at Shiina Hiyori:

"It's time for the day."

"The Tragedy of X".

"It's a classic. The author is Ellery Queen, a pair of cousins ​​who are also writers. Just as legendary as their detective novels is their classic tactic of creating alternate accounts to fight each other with their main accounts in order to boost their popularity."

Kitagawa Ryo commented:

"So writers in the 1920s and 30s already knew the importance of topics, public opinion, and hype, but that doesn't change the fact that their works are worth reading."

Hiyori Shiina nodded in agreement:

"At the time, the two published 'The Mystery of the Greek Coffin' under the pseudonym Ellery Queen, and 'The Tragedy of X' under the pseudonym Barnaby Ross. Given that their pseudonyms were already quite well-known, 'The Tragedy of X' even had a slight advantage in comparisons and debates among readers over 'The Mystery of the Greek Coffin.' In fact, in terms of both technique and logical chain, this book is indeed one of the pinnacle works of their careers."

After saying that, Shiina Hiyori also picked up a rice ball and ate it in small bites. Unlike Kitagawa Ryo, who looked hungry and ate in a slightly wild way, Shiina Hiyori seemed to care a lot about whether the rice grains fell on her clothes or the table. She ate very carefully, so Kitagawa Ryo temporarily gave up his plan to tell her that there was a grain of rice stuck to the corner of the girl's mouth.

"The Human Chair".

Kitagawa Ryo thought for a moment and then gave the name.

"One of Edogawa Ranpo's representative short stories from his early years."

Shiina Hiyori seemed unsatisfied with her answer and added:

"Actually, this book is more like a horror novel with a lot of suspense than a mystery novel, especially the first-person writing style. The subtle and chilling feeling of the mystery being revealed at the end is quite well portrayed. It's a psychological horror novel?"

Recalling the specific details, Shiina Hiyori shifted her body uncomfortably, as if afraid that someone was hiding in the chair she was sitting in.

"I'm here."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head with a slight chuckle. The plot of "The Human Chair" was the kind that seemed reasonable at first glance but couldn't be thought about too closely. After all, in reality, no one would actually hide in a chair to spy on others and satisfy their voyeuristic desires.

"Confession."

Shiina Hiyori felt relieved and handed Kitagawa Ryo a second rice ball while gazing into his dark eyes.

"Kanae Minato's works have youthful titles but dark content, and are considered one of the representative works of social mystery novels."

Kitagawa Ryo took his portion from Shiina Hiyori's hand, and then took out a second portion from the plate for her.

"Two more."

"..."

Shiina Hiyori glared at Kitagawa Ryo upon hearing this, but in reality, she was enjoying the interaction between the two of them, and the rice ball in her mouth seemed to taste even sweeter.

"let me see……"

After finishing two rice balls, Kitagawa Ryo started to get serious, thinking about the types of mystery novels the girl might have overlooked:

"The Daughter of Time".

"Liang underestimates me too much."

Shiina Hiyori sighed softly, then looked up at Kitagawa Ryo with displeasure and protested:

"Although I am not really interested in historical mystery novels, the author of this book is Josephine, who is known as one of the three great female mystery writers of the Golden Age, along with Agatha Christie and Dorothy."

"The truth is the daughter of time," a quote from Francis Bacon.

"..."

Recalling unpleasant memories, Shiina Hiyori remarked somewhat helplessly:

"But now, when I think of Francis Bacon, my first thought is that he summarized induction."

In May of that year, Kitagawa Ryo had Shiina Hiyori and Kaneda Satoru create a set of fake exam answers based on an incorrect exam scope, and this question was indeed included in it.

"Ahem, thank you for your hard work."

Shiina Hiyori ignored Kitagawa Ryo's words and continued:

"Crossing the Line"

"Kirino Natsuo's representative work, and also the first Japanese book to be nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award."

Kitagawa Ryo answered quickly, smiling as he looked at Shiina Hiyori, who still had the second rice ball left in her hand.

"It looks like Hiyori won't even be able to finish the four rice balls I expected."

"never mind……"

Hiyori Shiina muttered something under her breath.

She stuck out her little tongue and licked her lips, but she was still a little short of the grain of rice. Kitamikawa Ryo finally reached out and scraped it off for her.

"The Ceremony of Love".

"have not seen."

"Unlikely."

Kitagawa Ryo looked at Shiina Hiyori with some surprise. He had always chosen works by famous authors, and this game was essentially just two people joking around and exchanging their thoughts on the books.

"If you haven't seen it, you haven't seen it."

Shiina Hiyori pouted and denied it, handing the rice ball in her hand to Kitagawa Ryo:

"Feed me."

"Did we agree on this beforehand?"

"Because if Liang doesn't do this, the punishment measures can't be implemented."

Shiina Hiyori winked playfully at him. It was the first time Kitagawa Ryo had seen Shiina Hiyori like this, and his heart fluttered for a moment. However, the rice ball was not small, so he simply pinched the right side and slowly fed the left side into the girl's mouth.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo initially imagined, feeding by hand and feeding with chopsticks are completely different experiences.

Both of them unconsciously leaned forward. Kitagawa Ryo could see Shiina Hiyori's snow-white neck, her ears peeking out from among her silver-white hair. Because of the angle, the girl's eyelashes seemed exceptionally long, fluttering and trembling like black butterflies.

The warmth of his mouth gradually approached Kitagawa Ryo's fingers, and Kitagawa Ryo subconsciously pulled his fingers back. Watching Shiina Hiyori leave teeth marks on the rice ball, he tried to imagine the scene as when he usually fed Hotaru, but it seemed he couldn't quite do it.

"I'm full. It seems Liang really overestimated me."

Shiina Hiyori stopped just before touching Kitagawa Ryo's fingers, and then sat back down in her seat.

"What books has Hiyori been reading lately?"

Kitagawa Ryo breathed a sigh of relief, put the remaining rice ball back on the plate, and took a new one to eat.

"A work by Keigo Higashino".

Shiina Hiyori looked at Kitagawa Ryo's face, and reached out her finger to scrape away a grain of rice that was also stuck to the corner of Kitagawa Ryo's mouth:

"A Love Story in a Parallel World"

Chapter Twenty-Three: You Smell Her Perfume

"As for Class D, Koenji seems to be quite popular among the upperclassmen girls. A few days ago, I saw him surrounded by several upperclassmen in the student cafeteria. It seems that even a rich young master is still a young master when he comes to school."

"It's normal for the upperclassmen to be interested in him. Although points can play a more important role than money in this school, it's only a three-year high school after all. If you can't graduate from Class A, you won't be able to enjoy the series of guarantees that the school promised. Although the school will exchange the students' remaining personal points for yen at a ratio of one to two after graduation, it's very easy for the Koenji Zaibatsu to offer a higher price."

In a secluded, tree-lined path, Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Megumi, dressed in casual clothes, strolled along, chatting as they went:

"It's more accurate to say that Koenji was one of the few people in Class D who first saw through the school's point system. He was the first to think of exchanging money with graduating seniors. He might actually have the most points in Class D."

"Speaking of points, Class B has already transferred 800,000 points to me this month."

Karuizawa Kei waved her phone at Kitagawa Ryo; the enormous points displayed on the screen would probably make even the dirt poor D-class students swallow hard.

"Transfer 360,000 over first, and you can keep the remaining 440,000 for yourself."

Kitagawa Ryo also took out his phone to complete the point transaction. In fact, without Karuizawa Megumi's points from Class B, Class D would probably continue to struggle to survive this month. After all, their class points are only 87 points, and they can only receive 8,700 individual points each month.

"The deadline for Koenji and Ayanokouji is actually dropping out of school. As long as you don't threaten that, the two of them generally won't hinder your actions. In fact, at certain times, you can use dropping out as a bargaining chip to negotiate with them, but it's best not to use it."

Kitagawa Ryo assessed the gap between Karuizawa Megumi and the two of them, shook his head, and said:

"Not in a hurry."

"Ah."

Karuizawa Kei nodded, silently keeping Kitagawa Ryo's words in mind. Although she hadn't yet discerned anything special about Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Kitagawa Ryo's comparison of him to Koenji made Karuizawa Kei a little wary of this boy.

"It seems like nothing's going on with Class D, as for the other classes..."

Karuizawa Kei touched her lips with her right index finger, trying hard to recall:

"It seems that Arisu Sakayanagi, a student in Class 1-A, hasn't been feeling well lately. She's been absent for two days."

"Class B of Grade 1 held a class meeting a few days ago, but because all the doors and windows were closed, I couldn't see the specific content, but I heard girls crying and such."

"Yes, it's very valuable."

Kitagawa Ryo affirmed Karuizawa Kei's achievements. Since the midterm exams in May, Karuizawa Kei has replaced Horikita Suzune as the leader of Class D. However, apart from a few people, no one would have thought that Karuizawa Kei was also Kitagawa Ryo's personal mole.

"Final exams are coming up soon, how are you doing?"

"Hehe, it's alright, I'm just trying my best to study."

When Kitagawa Ryo asked about her studies, Karuizawa Kei proudly puffed out her chest. If her midterm exam results were somewhat questionable, after another month of patient and diligent study, Karuizawa Kei was quite confident about passing the final exams.

"The final exams aren't the most important thing. There should be a special exam this summer. If Class D wants to turn things around, this exam is crucial."

"An uninhabited island?"

Karuizawa Megumi had heard Kitagawa Ryo talk about this topic before, and she had also been intentionally learning some knowledge about this type of ticket recently:

"I feel like it's going to be a really tough exam..."

Most girls don't like these kinds of outdoor activities, and Karuizawa Megumi is no exception:

"I hope I can bring even the most basic sunscreen."

"Although I guessed it was about surviving on a deserted island, there's no point in guessing like that before the exam starts."

Kitagawa Ryo wasn't clear on the specific rules of this exam, but the fact that Sakayanagi Arisu himself wasn't participating and that Class D was led by Karuizawa Megumi gave him a lot of confidence. After all, Class B wasn't a concern; all he needed to do was test the mettle of Katsuragi Kohei from Class A.

After finishing their conversation about exams, the two started chatting about everyday life. After Karuizawa Kei recounted some funny stories about the girls in their class, she suddenly asked:

"Does Ryo have Kushida-san's contact information?"

"Yeah, there is."

Kitagawa Ryo still has some impression of a girl named Kushida Kikyo from Class D. With her good looks, figure, and excellent social skills, she has considerable influence in Class D and even the entire first year. Although Karuizawa Megumi is currently the undisputed leader of Class D, from another perspective, Kushida Kikyo's popularity among girls is even higher than Karuizawa Megumi's. After all, there are many small groups among girls, and Karuizawa Megumi is just the leader of one small group, while Kushida Kikyo can move between various groups with ease and is even generally welcomed.

From this point of view alone, Kikyo Kushida is a girl of considerable value.